Me thinks our current, long-term Congressman — the Liberal Lion of Lynn, the Sage of Salem, the Peabody Professor, the Baron of Beverly — is more than a little reluctant to hold hands and sing “Kumbaya” with his fair-haired successor.

After a brutal primary season, during which each campaign participated in a lot of nasty “nah, nah, boo, boo” antics in mail pieces and television commercials, the iciness continues as Moulton battles an old Tierney nemesis, Republican Richard Tisei, just 20 days before Nov. 4th’s final bout in the MA 6th Congressional District.

As is tradition, when Moulton upset Tierney in the primary, the victor and vanquished called each other to congratulate and console. But we’re hearing that the Congressman wasn’t too pleased with the level of sincerity when Moulton called him to try and smooth things over after the two spent so much time tossing haymakers and upper cuts.

The story goes that, during a call, Tierney perceived that Moulton was trying to distance himself from the nasty attacks made on the Congressman during the campaign. Those weren’t Moulton’s true feelings, Congressman. That was strategy!

Not having been on the call myself, I’m not sure if Tierney has a good case for interpreting Moulton’s message that way, but I do know one thing:

Gentlemen, there was enough nastiness to go around on both sides. You both did what you could to win, and at times it just wasn’t pretty. But Moulton won fairly, and it’s time for some “Kumbaya.”

A while back, one of my Irish-American relatives asked me if I ever heard of a condition known as “Irish Alzheimer’s.”

There’s a line at the end of a recent article in the Newburyport Daily News that caught my attention, and made me again feel that Seth Moulton is the most-impressive local candidate for office I can recall in my lifetime.

Seth Moulton

The article was from coverage of a Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce event, and during his speech Moulton recalled something that stuck with him after meeting an elderly voter at the Agawam Diner in Rowley.

“My host took me over to an older gentleman who has met many, many candidates over the years,” Moulton recalled during his speech.

“He told me, ‘Don’t go down there (to Washington) as a Democrat or as a Republican. Go as an American.’ And that’s what I will do if elected.”

If you’re reading this right now, and don’t find that refreshing, my only guess would be that you’re so caught up in either your own far left or far right ideology that you have lost sight of what government should be there to do for us.

Doing the business of people isn’t about ideology and obstructionism. It’s about being pragmatic, and ensuring that all Americans are allowed their own pursuit of happiness.

No pragmatic American wants the government to be interfering with every aspect of their lives. But at the same time, unless you simply don’t care about other people, we understand that it’s necessary for our society to take care of those who truly can’t take care of themselves.

No pragmatic American wants the government starting wars over the interests of multi-national corporations. But, unless you insanely think that terrorists can be negotiated with, then you understand that America needs to use its military to fight tyranny wherever it exists, and make our homeland safe.

No pragmatic American really wants to see every illegal immigrant, many of whom are working menial jobs just to make a few bucks to send back home, arrested and thrown in chains. But every American should care about securing our border, and about ensuring that our tax dollars are not being gobbled by illegal immigrant welfare cheats with multiple EBT cards.

I could go on, but I won’t, other than to say that I feel strongly that people want a government that works so well that you hardly even notice it’s there.

Elected officials shouldn’t tax us to death, and be wasteful in their spending. But we get it too. Taxes as necessary when it comes to providing for a national defense, ensuring that our roads and bridges are safe, and taking care of people who truly can’t do it on their own. Taxes are necessary in a civilized society.

Federally elected officials also need to leave us alone locally when it comes to public education, and stop fighting old battles, on the left and the right, when it comes to social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion.

Personally, I’m opposed to abortion, but I also believe that a women’s right to choose should never be taken away.

Personally, I feel that government should leave “marriage” to religious institutions. Yet, I also feel it’s time for people to stop fighting against same-sex marriage laws. That battle is over, and society has not fallen into an abyss sent from God.

It’s time for commonsense to prevail, and for us to pull together as a society.

It’s time to make government work, and to do so, we need new people in Congress like Seth Moulton. He’s pragmatic and gets it.

It’s not about Democrats. It’s not about Republicans. It’s about elected officials working for We the People.